secret to eternal youth held inside

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:02 am

ok so that was a trick, really im after advice about monitors. ive already used the search function but nothing has come up which does the trick. so...

im looking for a mid-range setup (absolute max of £600-700 for monitors + sub), purely for production (ive got a boss hifi already for listening pleasure)...so all i want is flat response

the best choices seem to be...

Blue Sky MediaDesk 2.1 system (satellites + sub) - £399 - review here
the review says they test the genelec 8030s very very closely for about £200 less...

or maybe the next model up, although there is little detail as to what more you get for £270 extra in this review

or there are the tapco s8s - £299 - review here - would also need to buy a seperate sub i think

or finally, most expensive, the tannoy reveal 8d actives - £499 - review here - again, i'd need a separate sub - are they worth the extra?

any advice from anyone would be MASSIVELY appreciated, i have no idea what im doing. ive thought about test driving some, but then i thought how am i to know what gives the flattest response without cross referencing to something i know to be flat? will i really be able to make an appropriate call distinct from what sounds nicest?! and given how much the accuracy of my hearing increases the more i produce, whats to say that i will be capable of making the right call?

subframe · Post by **subframe** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:18 am

For that much, you could get the Event ASP8s and the Event sub.

I've got Event 20/20s at home, and the ASP8s at work. The ASP8s are evolutioins of the 202/s. They are very nice, especially for what we do. Bass is handled quite well, they're non-fatiguing (at all), pretty damned clear.

You could get Mackie 824s, but no sub. They're pretty nice, although I don't really trust that bass - there's too much of it for a speaker that size.

Tannoys are super super clear speakers, but tend to be light on the bottom end. Haven't heard their latest offerings, though...

What you really want are Dynaudios, but uh, they're a little pricey

as for test driving them - flatness is a curious thing. You can look at specs to get a basic idea, that will help, but really what you want is to listen to a piece of music you know *very well*. You should be able to hear lots and lots of detail - more than you knew was there if you've never listened on monitors before. Because in the end, it doesn't matter how flat it is if you hate listening to them (the continuing popularity of the NS10 aside)

cynic · Post by **cynic** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:08 am

everyone on gearslutz loves the bluesky media desk for that price, then the dynaudio bm5a's as the next step up.

myself, i have the alesis m1 active mk2's with the sub. i think everything off of ebay ended costing in your price range, although i will say the m1s suck without the sub.

misk · Post by **misk** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:39 am

a friend of mine, (who also happens to own a nice local audio/music tech shop) recommended the new Alesis line of monitors, if you want midrange price, and a flat response.

he said they were the flattest response for midrange monitors, and i trust him... he runs a mastering studio as well... and hes good at it.

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:27 pm

thanks for the advice so far guys

much appreciated

subframe wrote:For that much, you could get the Event ASP8s and the Event sub.

i think theyre too expensive, from a quick search on google anyways...

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop ... ct_id/3718
this retailer has them cheaper but has a shit customer review. and even at that price, with a sub needed too it'd push the price pretty high

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:30 pm

im suspicious of the alesis m1 mk2s given how cheap they are... would i not be better off using as much of my budget as possible? i presume that to a fair degree you get what you pay for...

do alesis do higher end monitors?

ramadanman · Post by **ramadanman** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 1:57 pm

genelecssss

tbh monitors are hardly essential - useful yes, but its not the end of the world if you ain't got any. also sub wise, more important about where it is than what it is

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:41 pm

ramadanman wrote:genelecssss

tbh monitors are hardly essential - useful yes, but its not the end of the world if you ain't got any. also sub wise, more important about where it is than what it is

what do you use? how do you mean theyre not essential though? if i want a mixdown which transfer well onto other systems (especially club systems) are they not pretty vital?

subframe · Post by **subframe** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 8:45 pm

elgato wrote: i think theyre too expensive, from a quick search on google anyways...

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop ... ct_id/3718
this retailer has them cheaper but has a shit customer review. and even at that price, with a sub needed too it'd push the price pretty high

oops, you're right. I was looking at zzounds, but they were blemished, and shipping would kill you anyway.

As mentioned above, gearslutz is a pretty good resource for reviews and what not, but be careful, you'll end up wanting some $12k Barefoots or something, lol

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:56 pm

i really dont want anything too flash... i just want monitors which i can trust to show me how my tracks would sound on a proper system, at a reasonable price...

any more advice?

bob crunkhouse · Post by **bob crunkhouse** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:44 pm

easy mate.

ive got the s8's and am very happy with them, havent compared them to anything else though, so cant really say moe than that!

ha

good luck in finsing the right pair for u

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:34 pm

Bob Crunkhouse wrote:easy mate.

ive got the s8's and am very happy with them, havent compared them to anything else though, so cant really say moe than that!

ha

good luck in finsing the right pair for u

have you heard your tunes on a decent club system / other systems though? the main priority for me is transferability if you see what i mean

ramadanman · Post by **ramadanman** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:39 pm

elgato wrote: what do you use? how do you mean theyre not essential though? if i want a mixdown which transfer well onto other systems (especially club systems) are they not pretty vital?

i dont use monitors. cos i'm at uni i didn't have space for my better speakers at home, so i'm using some (Relatively) shit speakers -

playing @ wire last week, i had a listen to a few new bits before the night started, and they sounded wicked. also listening to them through a bit of the iration system in tribe gives a good idea at how they sound. not having monitors generally makes the process a bit longer - you have to get to know your speakers better - ie whether they emphasise bass / treble etc

i might make a track and then take it to a soundsystem, have a listen and realise it has too much hi end. then i'll go back to my computer and fix it. just makes the process a bit longer.

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:55 pm

elgato wrote:
Bob Crunkhouse wrote:easy mate.

ive got the s8's and am very happy with them, havent compared them to anything else though, so cant really say moe than that!

ha

good luck in finsing the right pair for u
have you heard your tunes on a decent club system / other systems though? the main priority for me is transferability if you see what i mean

club systems aren't gonna sound anything like a pair of quality monitors.
clubs are generally a bunch of pa speakers and subs being pushed in the red on the mixer

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:01 pm

interesting

something thats always confused me... i might make a track and it sounds good on a number of hifis i play it on, but then i play it on one or two and it sounds horrible. but if i were to play a track from a cd or vinyl on all the systems, the disparity would not be so great. what is this about? is it post-production mastering?

ramadanman · Post by **ramadanman** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:04 pm

it would be probs because those that it sounds good on share similar characteristics with the speakers you made it on, and those that it sounds crap on do not

cure · Post by **cure** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:22 pm

i uesed the reveals for a while... but they have no low end... Go with mackie hr824s....all around quality and pretty much industry standard

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:10 pm

ramadanman wrote:it would be probs because those that it sounds good on share similar characteristics with the speakers you made it on, and those that it sounds crap on do not

but while logic takes me that far, it doesnt account for why a track on a cd or vinyl can sound normal on all of them, other than that if produced on a flat sounding setup you'll get the best results possible on all systems... hence the point in good monitors...

is this not the case?

ramadanman · Post by **ramadanman** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:50 pm

if i had 600£ or something then yeh, i'd get monitors...but i'm not really losing any sleep not having them

regarding your question, i find that generally systems boost frequencies rather than take them away, but some systems may not boost anything at all - hence why the mix wont sound as good on others

hehe basically what im trying to say is that i'm too poor to buy monitors, and im trying to make myself feel better about it

Jubz · Post by **Jubz** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:05 am

Big up all the shit speaker massive, making me feel better too ramadanman.

secret to eternal youth held inside

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